Hi everyone! Feels good to be back here for a new month – new topic, and I hope you all are doing great as always. Are you ready to talk about self-assessment and why it is super important, now more than ever? Then join me with a warm drink and your favourite blanket, I’m ready!
Given the lockdown situation we are still in (almost a year later, wow) I wanted to take some time to discuss something that most people seem to have struggled with particularly this year: self-assessment. I hear you though; it’s a tough job to be your own critic especially when you might have just started out with your musical journey and do not have a clue if you are practicing/doing things right on your own. A few months ago I posted about creating a practice planner or schedule, so if you are completely lost in this process, feel free to start from that post and then come back to this one; it will make a lot more sense, promised!
Self-assessment is a vital part of the adult learning experience. We are constantly developing this skill as we grow, however our brain doesn’t always prioritise this process in certain areas, leaving us feeling ‘lost or clueless’ at times simply because of lack of information, time or… will to do so. A really effective way to counteract brain laziness or fear is to 1) bring attention to the matter and 2) break down the process in smaller bites. So when it comes to your practice specifically, we need self-assessment moments to ensure you are working towards your goals and moving forward, and realise that you are doing so. Bringing awareness to your practice is not just the key for building confidence, but also for independent learning down the line.
If you have already set up a nice practice plan/schedule, then you’re already half-way through your learning process. Now all you have to do is to complete the rest of the circle: to actually do your work and evaluate it. And since lockdown has restricted a lot of our contact or even accessibility to sessions for some of you, this part is something I would love you to work on. So let’s have a look at some simple ways to start improving this process.
- Be aware of what you are doing. Every time I assign you an exercise I always tell you why and what’s it good for. Knowing what you are doing in the bigger scheme empowers you with knowledge beyond the simple exercise and gives you already a success criteria to think about, which leads us on to…
- Know the criteria. Again, this is a list of things that I usually tell you to look out for; it most likely will be a list of elements you are required to check-in with whether they are happening or not.
- Write it out. Make the list visible, include all our previously talked about points and requirements for your exercise, song, piece or anything you are working on.
- Record yourself. While practicing (singing and music theory specifically), it’s good practice to record yourself at least once per practice, usually at the end when you are feeling confident enough. This recording is for your keeping only, however I may sometimes ask you to share them with me if we are in a remote-learning scenario.
- Watch it back. Now this is when you watch the video or listen to the recording back while looking at your checklist. Make a note of all the things you can tick as done, and perhaps add things you might think that were missed out or even questions you may have about it.
- Evaluate. Overall, how did it go? Can you see what the next steps could be?
As you grow into your art and craft, you will all develop these critical thinking skills. It is part of the learning journey but I do promise you, it gets easier and easier the more you do it, it’s just all about actually starting to do it In my teaching or coaching sessions I always dedicate at least one or two hours talking about the importance of this learning stage, so if you are still feeling lost or not exactly sure how to tackle this, feel free to drop me an email and we can easily schedule something to look at this topic.
Here are some links to external resources on the topic, have fun with this one and I can’t wait to hear what you think about it!
Click here for a cheesy YouTube recap video
Click here to read a very interesting article on Self-assessment